Planet in a bottle. Eden revisited. Laboratory under glass. The largest self-sustaining closed ecological system ever made. Biosphere 2 is many things to many people. From its half-acre farm to its coral reef to its emerald rainforest-this unique research facility has proven itself a marvel of human engineering and a testament to the human imagination. For two full years from 1991 to 1993, four men and four women lived and worked inside the structure,...

When artists and designers explore or create a fictional setting, the milieu must be completely fleshed out, explained, and designed. In this book, comic and gaming art veteran Mark A. Nelson explores and demonstrates his methods for fashioning visually stunning, believable environments for fantasy creatures and characters. Scores of images and step-by-step examples illustrate how variation and experimentation lead to fresh, original designs for otherworldly...

Unable to purchase a {dollar}50,000 digital projector, a group of quirky film fanatics in rural Pennsylvania fight to keep a dying drive-in theater alive by screening only vintage 35mm film prints and working entirely for free. AT THE DRIVE-IN is the award winning underdog story about The Mahoning Drive-in Theater. Winner of Best Local Feature at the **Philadelphia Film Festival**. "*An absolute masterpiece, an engrossing and endearing tale of the...

A family of animals that lives in a lighthouse helps a lost baby beluga whale find his mother.

Oscar Westerwit, a squirrel who loves baseball and Broadway musicals, fights back when a gangster rat named Big Daddy Duds and his thugs move uptown in the year 1900, invade Central Park, and evict Oscar and his animal friends from their homes.

National Book Critics Circle Award nominee Nelson George examines New York City's seamy pop music culture through the eyes of HIV-positive bodyguard "D" Hunter. With a client kidnapped, flamboyant music manager Ivy Greenwich enlists security specialist Hunter to deliver the ransom. Impressed with Hunter's street smarts, this old-white-dude-ina- fro hires him to protect teenie bopper Bridgette Hays. As he struggles with his smoldering desire for Bridgette,...

Cynthia Rylant brings the peaceful sounds, sights, and characters of the coast vividly to life in the eighth book of the Lighthouse Family series, in which the family meets a bear who has just woken up from hibernation! After a long winter cooped up in the lighthouse, Whistler and Lila are excited to go outside and explore. In the forest, they see some frosty vapor rising from a hole in the roots of a tree. They investigate and discover that it is...

Newbery Medal and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Cynthia Rylant creates an adorable family in The Lighthouse Family series chapter books. The mice children, Whistler and Lila, set out on an adventure into the mysterious forest. With a trusty compass, they are sure to find their way home until it falls out of Whistler's pocket. A large eagle named Stanley finds the compass, becomes a dear friend, and gives the mice a view of the great forest they...

Newbery Medal winner Cynthia Rylant pens the enchanting tale of Whistler and Lila's adventures during the low tide of the full moon. The mice children set off to meet new creatures before the tide comes back in and washes the creatures back to sea. Suddenly, a young octopus named Cleo startles the children, but the three soon become good friends. Yet as the tide comes back in, Lila discovers her feet are stuck in the mud. Will Cleo be able to help...